FEMA Region X – Risk MAP Discovery Interview
Lower Willamette - Tualatin Watersheds
City of Sherwood, Oregon
August 27, 2012; 11:00am Pacific Time
City of Sherwood
Bob Galati – City Engineer
Julia Hajduk – Planning Manager
Michelle Miller – Associate Planner-GIS
Andy Stirling – Engineering Technician
STARR (FEMA Contractor)
Becca Croft – Interviewer
Shannon Eagan – GIS Specialist
Jennifer Anticknap – Recorder
The following information was collected during the Interview. Unless otherwise noted, all comments are
from City of Sherwood representatives.
I.
Contacts
 The contact list for the City of Sherwood was updated and contacts added.
STARR (S. Eagan) reviewed the GIS data that has been collected for the city of Sherwood and explained
the types of additional data that could be beneficial to the project: parks, environmentally sensitive
areas, critical habitats, building footprints, parcels, topographic data (LiDAR, etc.).
II.
III.
IV.
Topography, LiDAR, and GIS
 P. Ortiz is the GIS point of contact for the City of Sherwood. M. Miller can also facilitate
data requests.
 The City of Sherwood accesses the Metro RLIS Live for GIS data layers.
Planning
 The City has not adopted a Hazard Mitigation Plan. They would be open to receiving
information on the benefits of hazard mitigation planning to present to senior city
officials.
 Critical infrastructure was identified in the Area of Concern layer including water storage
tanks and major roads.
Earthquakes
 Transportation corridors could be at risk to earthquake hazards. Many of the main
roads in and out of the city have bridges which could be impacted in the event of an
earthquake. Parts of the city could become disconnected should an earthquake impact
bridges.
 The Old Town area (captured in the Area of Concern layer) was identified as at risk for
significant earthquake. Buildings were built before modern day building code and could
be at risk for damage. Most of the other structures in the city are newer (late 1900’s to
today construction) and meet modern building codes for earthquakes.
Risk MAP Discovery Interview – Lower Willamette - Tualatin Watersheds
City of Sherwood – August 27, 2012
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 No outreach has been done in the Old Town area to promote
retrofitting/earthquake that the participants on the call are aware of.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
Wildfires
 There is little to no risk of wildfires and no critical infrastructure was identified at risk.
The community will explore their wildfire risk in more detail prior to the Discovery
meeting.
 The city is mostly surrounded by farmland with low risk wildfire would enter the
community.
Landslides
 Landslides are not considered a risk and there is no known damage within the city limits
from landslides.
 It was noted that areas next to the stream corridors may be at risk for liquefaction, with
some potential for settling of properties. City ordinances protect the areas in the
floodplains from development.
 Unique geologic conditions exist in the south east part of the city as it is underlain with
extremely hard basalt.
Severe Storms
 Severe storms impact roads, leading to traffic congestion, especially winter snow and/or
ice storms.
 The city experienced a severe snow storms several years previously. The storm resulted
in the inability to clear the local streets of snow. Snow is an infrequent event so they do
not have snow removal equipment.
 Wind storms more frequent and cause damage and create power outages. The City
identified a transformer and major overhead power transmission lines running through
the city.
 Most residential power lines are underground since the community is relatively new.
Participants on this call do not recall outages lasting more than an hour or two.
 There has never been a need to open shelters. The City does have designated shelters
and will be able to provide more information regarding their locations.
 The City uses flash alerts (a text goes out to cell phone for those who subscribe), reverse
911 is available, and the city website to keep residents informed.
Flooding
 Stream corridors and floodplains are protected open spaces and there is no perceived
risk of flooding.
 There have not been requests for development in the floodplain in over seven years. If
any requests for development come in the City works with Clean Water Services to
design mitigation strategies for that development. Development is restricted to parking
lots and other uses that will not sustain losses.
 Several areas of concern were captured in the Area of Concern layer:
Risk MAP Discovery Interview – Lower Willamette - Tualatin Watersheds
City of Sherwood – August 27, 2012
IX.
X.
XI.
Page 3 of 3
 Vacant property on which the owners of property note flood waters never go
where FEMA maps show.
 Area north of city that floods every year and covers road way; the FIRM does
not reflect this.
 A completed bridge project on Washington Street. It was hoped the bridge
would alleviate some flooding downstream. Beavers on the stream build dams
and restrict flow. It is especially important to keep other debris from building up
with the wildlife upstream.
 Old tannery holding ponds near the floodplain.
 Public Works staff would be better to answer questions on local flooding from
stormwater and other stormwater issues
Levees
 No levees have been identified within the city of Sherwood.
Environmentally Sensitive Areas
 Everything within the stream corridor and the floodplain is considered and treated as an
Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA).
 Two ESAs were captured in the Area of Concern, one in the southeast corner and
another just north of the city.
 There are isolated wetlands throughout the city, mostly small areas. The locations of
these areas are available in Metro RLIS Live database.
Communications and Outreach
 Craig Sheldon, the Public Works Director, was identified at the floodplain administrator,
although the City would like to confirm this.
 The City of Sherwood has a process to make sure development in the floodplain is
limited.
 The City of Sherwood is open to further training on floodplain management and would
like more information regarding training opportunities and support.
 The Emergency Operations Manager has historically been engaged in outreach. Due to
funding cuts the position was eliminated and the outreach position was absorbed into
the police department.
 The City is interested in tools and templates to aid in outreach efforts.
 The City Council or Planning Commission meetings would be venue for project status
updates.